Neon Genesis Cosmos: The Jurai Invasion Saga
by TheJadeArcAngel
Summary: As Gendo's despicable nature shines through the Masaki house, evil stirs in space and is coming with an old acquaintence from Tenchi's past... Meanwhile, Tenchi tries to survive Asuka and Ryouko tackles Misaki's temper.
1. Out of the frying pan...

CHAPTER 1: Out of the Frying Pan…  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE IGNORE ANYTHING YOU READ PRIOR TO THIS FIC ( ANYTHING CALLED "SENTIENT WINDS". THAT SHEYIT I WROTE EARLIER WAS A DISASTER AND NEVER TO BE PUT ON THE WEB AGAIN…HOWEVER…I DO PLAN ON MAKING A SEMI- NEDESIC/TENCHI/EVA FICTION AND THIS IS AS GOOD A START AS I COULD MAKE IN A FEW HOURS….PEACE ALL. BY THE WAY THERE IS A THING CALED PLOT DEVELOPMENT SO IF YOU READ THIS AND SAY "Hmm, he's an idiot cause he didn't explain every hidden agenda and give tell every secret in this FIRST chapter, I guess I wont read chapter two" THAN YOU SIR/MADDAM ARE A MORON…..  
  
  
  
Keels conference room was truly impressive with its decorative "temple" style architecture and its use of mirrors. Needless to say Gendo felt very uncomfortable having to look at himself from every angle as he waited for his "meeting" with Lorenz. Suddenly from the other room cam e a man in long brown robes, his legs supported by a motorized chair, his eyes looking over Gendo with their automated visor.  
  
"Keel, I hope you have a good reason for calling me here."  
  
***Few hours latter***  
  
Gendo sat at his desk in a quiet repose, a holographic image of Evangelions units' one through two before him. Gendo cycled the holographic images to that of the internal working of unit one, its monstrous power shown as small pie charts and bar graphs. These things were not simply the kind of tools one could disperse across the universe at a whim, to sell to a bidder…these were the artifacts of God. SEELE had long been known for making foolish, even cowardly decision since Gendo came to know them through Yui but this was beyond reproach. Gendo sneered as he shut off the display, turning to focus his attention and frustration on that of Fuyutsuki, his second in command and what some could call "friend".  
  
  
  
"Gendo, SEELE has been trying to get your to respond to their messages for a week now. Even you can't hold out against their will forever…they'll try to physically take the Eva's and their pilots. Its just a matter of when and how."  
  
  
  
"Nonsense. This base is more than equipped to deal with the likes of Keel and his dogs…well welcome the aliens and the old men with arms wide open and guns blazing" Gendo got up from his chair and went o a side drawer at his desk, revealing small glass flask of what seemed to be wine or ale. As Gendo poured two glasses Fuyutsuki considered what he could possibly say to change Gendo's mind. "When SEELE arrives here, and they will, I plan on evacuating the Evangelions and sending them to Germany, to the second branch. With the EVA's out of the way nothing would be able to stop a full out assault."  
  
  
  
"Gendo have you gone MAD! This is SEELE and the planet of Jurai we are talking about. Besides…why would Keel give the Eva's to the aliens anyway? Something doesn't add up and your…thirst…for vengeance will only make things to rougher for everyone at NERV"  
  
  
  
"Don't you mean NERGAL? NERGAL HEAVY INDUSTRIESS. That's our new name. Those idiotic old men have crossed the line and I intend to see they trip over it, right into a six foot pit!"  
  
  
  
Fuyutsuki cringed to see Gendo so enraged, so hotheaded. Normally his tantrums would cool over and he would revert to his planning and scheming self, the Gendo who was always one step ahead of the game…not this brash, arrogant…idiot. Knowing there was no alternative to Gendo's current course of action Fuyutsuki went an walked over to the largest of three file cabinets, drawing out a document which read: "EMERGENCY ALERT PRIORITIES" Gendo smiled as Fuyutsuki placed the file on his desk and silently went o ready all militarily able personnel to get ready…SEELE was coming.  
  
  
  
  
  
The skies overhead were like massive expanses of ocean over the Masaki household, it's great clouds giving shade to what had once been an overly hot afternoon. Tenchi Masaki sat beneath the shade of a great tree, taking the time, while it lasted, to savor the peace and quiet. As the sun cleared a cloud hurdle to cast its hot rays over the land Shinji saw something that caused his to immediately forget any chance of peace, tranquillity or even quiet…especially quiet. Aeka and Ryouko, two of the loudest, brashest and easily most beautiful creatures in the universe, were both racing to be at Tenchi's side…something that usually required a hospital stay for SOMEBODY!  
  
"Lord Tenchi lets go for a nice cool swim!" shouted the dark purple haired Aeka, her body covered in a quite revealing swimsuit, considering it was a royal princess who was wearing it (she was quite "concerned" over her figure as of late so this could be considered a big deal in any weight conscious woman's life…the public display of a swimsuit that is…although Aeka normally had no problem exposing herself to Tenchi whenever the situation seemed "appropriate"). Of course, as were all constants in the universe, Ryouko rebutted with:  
  
"NO Tenchi don't go hanging around with that indecent skank, come spend time with me!"  
  
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU SPACE RAT!"  
  
"Boy I guess you are a GLUTTON for punishment, eh HUSSY!" Ryouko snapped sarcastically, her eyes narrowed in the oncoming spray of shouts and howls from the now VERY pissed princess.  
  
"HEY NOW! Why don't both of you just sit here and clam down for a bit. Sasami will be through with lunch soon so we really shouldn't do so much that we wouldn't be able to get there on time. You know how sensitive Sasami is with her cooking and if its not hot when we eat it well dinner is out of the question"  
  
The second royal princess in the house, the young Sasami, had recently begun her fortay into EXTREME cooking, the kind used only by master chiefs, and as a result, all food needed to be savored freshly and without mayor argument until ones plate was clean.  
  
"Yes I suppose your right Tenchi, as usual. It dose seem like Ryouko to want to waste time instead of focusing HERE and NOW, on the present."  
  
"WHY YOU-"  
  
"RYOUKO!" Tenchi shouted. "BOTH of you calm down already! This is one of my only days off school and I can't enjoy it with you two arguing like this!"  
  
Tenchi smiled as there was a moment of peace and stillness while the two pondered how they had been acting…but it was just that: a moment.  
  
"BUT TENCHI, THAT HUSSY STARETED IT" shouted Ryouko, her playful tone in full gear as Tenchi finally got up off the grass, his head already developing a massive migraine.  
  
"I'm going to be inside if anybody needs me!" Tenchi said as he started to walk back to the house, his eye developing a slight twitch. As he walked off Ryouko and Aeka stood very quiet, each unsure of what to say.  
  
"Hey princess, nice way to flash the flab!" Ryoko smarted off. Suddenly the sky became ablaze with the sounds of roaring and humming, the wind picking up intensely as a huge group of fighter planes ripped overhead, the wind shock throwing Aeka to the ground and sending Ryoko hurdling backwards. Tenchi covered his face as the screaming planes roared over him and then the house.  
  
"I wonder what that as all about." Tenchi thought….  
  
  
  
***Latter that Day***  
  
  
  
  
  
Shinji sat alone in his room, not paying any attention to the blaring of the red lights or the scream of the alert sirens. He didn't care any more…not after what he had done to Kawru…his friend, his ONLY friend. He was a butcher and his Eva was his knife…he had killed too much to go on and it seemed fitting that men, not an angel, would repay his sins by blowing him apart with the entire damned GeoFront. As Shinji sat on his bed, coiled up into a small ball of pity and guilt, his room mate, Asuka, stormed into his room, a look of intense anger and concern on her features  
  
"THERE YOU ARE!" she shouted  
  
"A-Asuka!? I thought you were hospitalized!" stammered Shinji, his emotions caught in a whirlwind of amazement and shock  
  
"I got out of the infirmary ward a week ago you idiot but I guess you were too wrapped up in you pity-party to see that!"  
  
Shinji, still in a state between crying out of anger and sadness, didn't even have time to notice the Second Child was pulling him outside into the hallway where many NERV workers had formed a small group…an evacuation group. The obvious group leader, Asuka, pushed Shinji into the small crowd and got busy  
  
"LISTEN UP! NERV has begun to call for all level 3 and 1 employees to gather inside the GeoFront while all the pilots and EVA crew are to meet at the Launch Gates for immediate evacuation of the units  
  
"Evacuation? How do you evacuate an entire evangelion unit?!" one voice said from the group  
  
"Easy dumkoff! You get in and haul ass all the way until your out'a sight. This place is gonna be crawling with UN troops soon so you can trust me on the fact that we need to HURRY UP!"  
  
"Why are we following orders from a kid" one woman said, her voice driving Asuka up the proverbial wall  
  
"BECAUSE, LADY, THIS KID GRADUATED COLLEDGE ALREADY AND IS THE PILOT OF AN EVANGELION SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY IDEA GO HUDDLE IN A DITCH"  
  
Needless to say everyone, even Shinji, followed along with her plan…meanwhile the sounds of thundering tanks could be hear in the distance.  
  
  
  
Misato looked on the broken and disheartened face of the once world- renowned Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, a broken and shattered being if ever there was one in all god's creation. Katsuragi tried to see the blonde-dyed woman as who she once was, a good friend and school pal, bur instead could only see the image of a cowardly has-been on the road to ruination.  
  
"Misato if your not going to say anything than go away. Please Misato…"  
  
"Sorry, you don't get off so light. I need to know why SEELE is doing all this. Why have they abandoned NERV and more importantly why do they want us all dead?"  
  
"You really need to see the full picture sometime Misato. Gendo is a fool and because of his…damned pride, were all going to suffer. He refused to hand over the EVA's to SEELE's benefactors and actually challenged them to power!"  
  
"Your saying…he didn't want to give up Shinji?"  
  
"HAH! Don't be so dramatic, Mayor. Gendo only wants what he thinks is best for himself…things like the EVA…things like Rei."  
  
"I think I've hear enough for now thank you." Said Misato. As the door close Ritsuko shed a small tear to herself  
  
"I just couldn't compete…with her." She mumbled.  
  
  
  
Space, endless in its simplicity yet it contained all the best and worst things in the universe, suspended on little dots of rock and water called planets. The great starship NIGHTMAINE, a Juraian A-Class vessel, exited from its long and laborious light-jump coming to view the massive blue and green swirled planet called earth. General Hazuko looked over his monitors and called up a video representation of what a "GeoFront" was and how best to crack it open, like an otter with a very delicious clam.  
  
"We will see whom can truly hit hardest now Mr. Ikari" said the Juraian General, his long white hair falling into strands before his glowing yellow eyes. Hazuko straightened out his long red uniform and with a mere tap of his Juraian war-staff on the pressure sensitive floor, commanded the NIGHTMAINE to begin its descent to earth.  
  
  
  
  
  
Shinji and Asuka arrived at the launch bays, not really surprised to see Rei Aiyanami there as well with Toji Suzahara and Misato.  
  
"Ok kids here's the plan. Were going to load you each into your EVA's and then launch you up to the surface, AFTER SEELE arrives down to this level. Then, as they're trying to get back up, you will all activate your evagelions are use all your battery time running to the rendezvous point which is an airstrip. From there I suppose the second branch in Germany will have to provide cover until this thing blows over."  
  
"Blows over? Misato THEYRE OUT TO KILL US AND TAKE OUR EVANGELIONS! THEY WANT US DECEASED, DESTROYED, ERADICATED!" Asuka shouted, her face now as red as he plug suite.  
  
"Asuka you have to realize that SEELE wants the Eva's intact, and that mean, they will need the pilots as wel1. Although your safety is almost guaranteed it would not be right for SEELE to get their hands on the Eva units."  
  
"Than what would you suggest Misato? Leave them in my father's control? I say let these, Juraians, take the EVA's far away from this planet so they'll never do anybody any harm ever again!"  
  
"HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY DAFT WHILE I WAS ASLEEP SHINJI?!" shouted Asuka. " "Oh sure, lets give another species the hell and hard work we've put into all this SO THEY can reap the glory?" NO THAKYOU! You may be a spineless wimp but not this girl! I am taking my EVA 2 and were going to Germany!"  
  
"Fine Asuka…you do that. But when Section 2 finds you they'll probably have a replacement child all lined up." Toji replied  
  
"I…will go with Asuka." Said Rei  
  
"Fine, another addition to the LOOSEING SIDE!" shouted Toji  
  
"EVERYONE! There is no side in this game…only life or death. You will die if SEELE gets here first and you will live if you run from a fight you will most certainly loose!" Misato said, her voice faint now and cracked.  
  
"Since when has anybody cared if we die in a fight." Said Rei, her eyes piercing the very soul of Misato as she thought back to all the times she commanded them id bleak and bleaker situations.  
  
"Listen…I don't want any of you to die and I don't want those murdering SEELE bastards to get the EVA's so for the love of everything holy, RUNAWAY!" said Misato, her legs going weak as she was now sobbing on the floor at the children's feet/  
  
"I will stay here…and die like the man my father always wanted me to be" said Shinji, an overbearing hint of enraged sarcasm filing his voice. Asuka stood for a second and hit Shinji on the back, her mood seemingly clearing up.  
  
"Well well Shinji I guess you do have a spine in there after all! I agree…no more running!"  
  
"I refuse to run as well" said Rei, her monotone voice surprisingly filled with character and courage.  
  
"What the hell. I just got my Unit 3 back so I might as well see it off in the fires of battle that rage like the fires of passion in my soul" Toji commented  
  
"Hey Suzuhara! That wasn't half bad!" said Asuka, her eyes inquisitive as to how something so ugly could produce something so sweet…until Toji let out a rather crude belch that sank and elusions of character he had build himself up in her mind.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The mighty city of Tokyo 3, fortress to the wandering and afraid masses that was man, was in terror. The forces of SEELE and the UN combine armies had struck with brutal and devastating force leaving nothing alive and not a soul scheduled to live. The first wave was that of an armored tank column, their black uranium encased bodies glimmering like a sea of black locusts off the horizon…except life was the target of THIS swarm. With a heavy crunch the wave of tanks rolled across cars, trucks, even bicycles in there merciless march to seize the precious GeoFront and the spoils of war inside. In the air the skies cried with terror as rows of jets streaked overhead, finally encircling the "impact zone" where the next phase of the assault was to begin….the Juraian stage of the attack…  
  
  
  
Hazuko steered the great ship through the clouds, its massive bulk pressing clouds away in its wake, its numerous rows of gun cannons all armed and ready. With a cold smile Hazuko pointed his great staff to the area of encircling jets, seeing how his allies below had nicely targeted the "fire zone" for him.  
  
The NIGHTMAINE rippled with ribbons of energy that arched over the great length if its size and finally focused to a great head, then with a megalithic eruption, struck the planet Earth like a parent smacking a rebellious child with a bat. The explosion threw up great waves of fire that actually changed colors with intensity as they swirled over the whole of Tokyo 3, killing countless….including the Un troops. As the massive flames died down Hazuko could see the great hidden city of the GeoFront, its grass alight with fire, its people screaming and all the while its champions, the mighty Evangelions, cowered in terror before the Juraian might. Hazuko grinned as he narrowed his eyes, scanning the surveyed carnage for a way to seize his targets….  
  
  
  
Misato and the other pilots were shaken but alive. As power returned from the huge impact Misato could only look up into the air in terror…the roof, the entire upper levels…were completely blown away! Shinji saw the great alien warship, its frame colored in red and black material that resembled something like…wood.  
  
"Lets get going." Said Asuka to the others who were all to anxious to agree with the coarse of action suggested…revenge was needed and if they were lucky, would be dealt out.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi was on his couch when the pain hit. In a brief heartbeat he suddenly felt as if his head was going to explode and spill forth its contents on the floor. Gripping his skull Tenchi rolled onto the floor, gasping for air as he looked up for help in the form of Washu who had been busy cycling through notes…needless to say her schedule had now changed.  
  
"TENCHI!" Washu said, her attention now fully on the pain-stricken boy at her feet  
  
'Great…suffering…TOKYO 3!" Tenchi blurted out, his voice horse and dry, his fists clenched in pain. "It's…Jurai…they've killed…countless!"  
  
"Jurai? Tenchi what's going on here! What's going on!"  
  
"I can see it all…as it's happening! A Jurian cruiser…destroyed much of Tokyo 3…AGHHH!!!" Tenchi screamed in agony as he suddenly gripped at his head once more. "A group of children…they're…GOING TO TRY AND TAKE ON THE SHIP ITSELF!"  
  
"Do they know they'll die? I've got an idea" said Washu as she accessed her volumes of inter-dimensional wormholes and from one pulled out a small headband, its center adorned by a small lens. "Here. I am going to put this on your head and I need you to think clearly tenchi!"  
  
"I'll…try!" said tenchi, his tone underlining his great pain. As Washu placed the headband on Tenchi the lens glowed a brilliant blue and suddenly shot out a small projection of Tenchi's mind. Washu looked on in horror as he could vividly see the massive Jurian ship unleashing a fully changed blast only a few miles from the air onto a fully packed section of the city, which to everyone's knowledge, had just recovered from the last massive explosion when a machine managed to self detonate in the main district.  
  
"Tenchi, I think your experiencing a very sudden yet powerful form of ESP, something I didn't think most mortals could handle in this situation."  
  
"Lucky…ME!" shouted Tenchi as he struggled to get up off the floor, his face still gritted in a combination of anger and sheer will. Tenchi managed to get one leg up when he toppled down again. "I…the children…they're all pilots of…some sort of weapon!"  
  
"I hope it's a powerful one Tenchi cause that cruiser isn't exactly standard Juraian military…that's an A Class Elite vessel used only on world with extreme resistive capacities."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shinji could feel the power of the EVA course through his body as the LCL did its work. Soon, very soon, he would personally destroy the dammed battleship, no matter how powerful, or die trying. As the EVA's were launched by remote from Central Dogma Misato looked on in dismay as she felt four parts of her soul slip away…and die.  
  
  
  
Gendo entered the terminal room where the chaos was rampant. Technologies departments were gone, communications to 60% of the base was cut off and to make matters worse, that was only ONE shot from the alien vessel. Maya and Ritsuko entered the room, there faces tern like rock as Gendo and Fuyutsuki looked on in anger and confusion.  
  
"Dr. Akagi! What are you doing out of isolation!?" shouted Fuyutsuki  
  
"Now now dear friend. Let her stay…while she is useful. Dr. Akagi…"  
  
"Yes, Gendo?" That line caught the commander by shock and surprise, but mostly anger.  
  
"You will establish a line of communication with the EVA pilots and inform them to get to the meeting point before that vessel fires again." Dr. Akagi nodded and went to work  
  
"Gendo?" asked Fuyutsuki  
  
"Ignore her. You I need to make sure Major Katsuragi is escorted safely from this place and then too delegate terms with Commander Reichheart in the Second Branch…can you do that?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
As Ryouko and Aeka entered the room they saw Washu hovering over Tenchi's moaning body, her hands pressed on his chest.  
  
"WASHU! What are you doing to my Tenchi!" shouted Ryouko. Washu sneered in anger as she pointed to the kitchen.  
  
"You imbecile! Go get Sasami and tell her to bring lots of ice. Aeka, go get Grandfather at once!" Ryouko and Aeka snapped to action as Tenchi continued to reel in pain.  
  
  
  
Unit 01 stood against the great shadow of the Jurian warship, its eyes aglow with raw hate as seemed to stretch out its hand in order to tear the ship apart with its mind. Shinji suddenly felt his mind swirl with seething pain as images of bizarre women and a distant location in Japan, a small shrine, filled his mind like great flood.  
  
  
  
Hazuko looked down in awe as the evangelion, the one identified as "unit one" began to levitate into the air.  
  
"DAMN YOU SEELE! YOU NEVER SAID THE THINGS COULD FLY!" Hazuko cursed as he carefully ascended the NIGHTMAINE into the air to quickly begin apprehension of the EVA's and there pilots.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi's body, once again in great pain, suddenly began to levitate off the floor, his bodies contour and frame outlines by glowing red and blue light rails, his face suddenly bearing the markings of one who had summoned up there Jurai Royal Power. It was then a great light shot forth from Tenchi's body  
  
  
  
  
  
Unit one was almost twenty feet in the air when it suddenly curled up into a ball, its skin rippling with a massive hear shimmer that soon grew into a physical aura of white and blue light, its ribbon like texture shaping itself into a triple set of wings, the Eva itself now a beep blue where what was once purple and in its left had was a great sword of light. Shinji's mind and souls seemed to be joined as one with, not only the EVA, but another…somebody far away….With a bestial roar that seemed to be mixed with the shriek a great bird, unit one took to the air, its powerful wings of light streaking outwards like glowing white and blue sails. Despite all the warships massive armor Shinji's sword sliced through the ships side like a hot spike through a wax wall.  
  
Asuka looked on in a combination of fright and amazement as she saw unit one sweep and strafe along the sides of the warship, slicing and hacking way. "Mein Gott in Himmel! How is he doing that!"  
  
  
  
"However he is doing it we must help him" came the voice of Rei, her EVA moving in from her position with an artificial Longinus Lance. Rei focused her mind as she stood her ground, reared back and with all her strength, tossed the un-curled Lance at the warship. With all the power of a speeding train, the silver length of metal passed through the armor of the ship as if it was made if tissue paper. As a huge explosion coursed along the side of the monstrous vessel unit 01 came to rest in front of the ship, its wings still outstretched and ready to guide the EVA into more battle…  
  
  
  
Hazuko cursed aloud as he aimed his staff at the EVA's on the Video monitors, his eyes aglow with yellow and green energy, his rage so intense that it began to levitate his clothing a few inches into the air.  
  
"HOW CAN AN EVA SUMMON THE ROYAL POWER OF JURAI! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! These machines are beginning to be more trouble than they're worth!"  
  
With a powerful thrust the vicious commander unleash his trump card: The NIGHTMAINE's tractor beam. With a blue blast of weaving light all the evangelons, the 01 included, began to left off the ground and closer to the great vortex-like maw that was the NIGHTMAINE'S holding bay. The EVA's kicked and tossed but to no avail: They were captured and now at the mercy of Jurai.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi's body suddenly broke off from its glowing trance, his body covered in a mixture of cold and hot sweats, and the pain in his head had vanished,  
  
"Washu….we need a dimensional tunnel…NOW! I could see into that boys mind, what he was doing, why Jurai was attacking…they're after a powerful weapon developed on earth and this boy, who seems to share my mind, is a pilot. He and his friends, maybe even this whole planet is in serious trouble!"  
  
"Now Lord Tenchi are you sure this is such a good idea, chasing after a rouge Jurai battleship to save a person you saw in a hallucination?"  
  
"You don know what you're talking about Aeka! I saw the vision and they are genuine. Further more that was no "rouge" warship….that was the NIGHTMAINE." Said Washu, her tone bordering on the angered and pissed off.  
  
"What? That's impossible! The NIGHTMAINE was second only to the Tsunami in power and is in my family's possession! My father as you know is here on earth so how could he issue its use? Besides, there is nobody who can pilot it. You have to proficient in Staff-Piloting and only my father knows how to do it well!"  
  
"Well I'll tell you this much. Whoever was piloting that ship leveled a good portion of a city, stole three machines and was able to survive a direct encounter with this boy who seemed to be channeling Tenchi's Jurai power. I am going to get a dimensional tunnel and whoever wants to go with Tenchi and I are welcome!"  
  
As Washu entered one of her wormholes Tenchi pulled out "tenchi", igniting its power to there fullest. Suddenly however three figures came into the room, their faces marked with concern and worry. One was that of Tenchi's grandfather, the other of Aeka's father, Azusha. Then there was Sasami and Reyoohki. As Grandfather walked up to Tenchi he could feel the urgency to act coming off his body like heat.  
  
"Grandfather, don't try to stop me. I intend to go…one way or another."  
  
Grandfather smiled a slight bit as he stepped back a set of spaces.  
  
"Tenchi I have no plans on stopping you but rather, informing you that the enemy you face could be a million more times dangerous than that sword."  
  
'I agree Tenchi. If the person you seek is whom I believe it to be, than that sword will not help you. You may be dealing with General Hazuko, the very person who constructed my ship the NIGHTMAIN" said Azusa, his tone stern…yet worried more for her daughters safety that of Tenchi's.  
  
"But father, why would General Hazuko come to earth to destroy, steal and do such evil?" asked Aeka  
  
"Easy princess. Greed is the way of the universe and it would seem this Hazuko guy got a BIG bite. I guess hanging round that ship is what did it." said Ryouko  
  
'WHY YOU COMMON SPACE CRIMONAL! HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING ABOUT MY UNCLE!"  
  
"Well like it or not your Uncle just wasted a huge city and could do a lot more if WASHU DOSENT GET IN HERE WITH ONE OF THOSE TUNNELS!" Ryouko shouted. As if on command Washu appeared, a rather large wooden door frame in her hands.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the new and improved dimensional Tunnel X! I've entered the NIGHTMAIN as the target so we should all come through somewhere in the lower levels! LETS GO!" shouted Washu as her trusty little puppet assistants materialized to cheer her on.  
  
WASHU A: You are the greatest Washu!  
  
WASHU B; Nobody is better than our Washu!  
  
"I hate to break all this up but can we go now!" said Tenchi. Washu nodded and opened the door, a brilliant burst of light emitting from the inner- space of the door as a clear window to another location in time, that of a moving starship, appeared before them. Tenchi tensed his muscles as he walked foreword followed closely by Ryouko and Aeka. Sasami followed suite with Ryouko and finally Washu and Grandfather,  
  
They're all fools!" said Azusa as he sat on the couch, content with merely staring at the dimensional archway  
  
  
  
  
  
Misato could see the great warship from the alien world from her speeding "evacuation" transport. It wasn't that Misato thought they were dead…but she didn't feel right knowing the EVA's and the children were aboard that horrible thing. As the Evac. bus cleared the third defensive zone the JSDF arrived to try and shoot the massive cruise down. Scores of Hovercraft and fighter jest launched volleys of missiles and bullet waves but to no avail: one simple burst of the NIGHTMAINES gun rows cleared the skies of all resistance and left it the dominant demon in the air…  
  
  
  
The massive ship, known throughout the Jurai royal family as the second most powerful ship in existence, was almost completely unguarded. As Tenchi and the others walked along its great halls they were more than a little surprised to see there were no guards, no cameras, not even a droid observer.  
  
"Hey Aeka, why isn't this thing, ya know, guarded?" asked Ryouko, her eyes trained along the walls for concealed gun turrets or bobby traps.  
  
'I have no clue except that Hazuko must not feel the need for any defenses. THIS IS the NIGHTMAIN after all."  
  
As the group continued walking along they came upon a huge chamber, its space hollowed out…and in its center were three huge humanoid machines, each one looking inactive. Tenchi rushed up to the evangelions, his hand hesitant to touch them…but as he did he cold not help how "alive" they felt, as if they were huge men in armor. Suddenly, almost all at once, the backs of the machines burst open in a hiss of steam and pressure, a massive white chambers emerging outwards and spraying orange gel across the room until finally they opened up with a loud crack. From one of these "plugs" came a young woman, her hair long and auburn, with great blue eyes that shone like glass. The second plug revealed a second girl who seemed to be as thin as a rail, her loose blue hair falling somewhat in her face that looked as blank as a starless night. The third person to emerge was a well- built muscular boy, his skin dark and his hair black. This boy coughed a lot as he climbed out, as if he were a rookie to the whole idea. Finally came the person Tenchi was most interested in, the person who had invaded his mind and vice versa.  
  
"Are You…Shinji Ikari?" said Tenchi, trying not to scare the young man off  
  
"Only if you are Tenchi Masaki" Shinji replied  
  
"LOOK, I am sure we can play catch –up latter but for now lets get out of here!: said Ryouko  
  
  
  
Hazuko continued to scour the ruins of the GeoFront with the IGHTMAIN, his secondary target still not acquired. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, Hazuko spotted Gendo trying t board an EVAC shuttle.  
  
"Sorry Gendo. You have a date on Jurai!" Hazuko said as he pointed his ling silver staff towards the monitor, watching in glee as Gendo vanished in a swirl of blue light…where he would re-appear onboard the NIGHTMAINE  
  
  
  
After the children had climbed down from here EVA units there was a brilliant burst of light as a man, in his fifties, suddenly appeared next to Tenchi his body unconscious. Tenchi looked over to Washu who nodded and pulled out her dimensional accesses panel, calling for a mass teleportation back to the Masaki household. Tenchi and Shinji continued to stare at one another as they wee suddenly enveloped by a great white energy.  
  
  
  
  
  
Keel sat at his desk sipping his wine while he read over a list of the new NERGAL schedules that would soon be implemented around the world. As he read his holographic communications alert went off. Keel casually pressed the button and stood to attention as the figure of a tall form filled the room, his body draped in red and black robes, the face masked by a metal face-plate engraved with rune-like markings over the outward edge with only two slits for eye holes that were filled by a pulsing black power that seemed to absorb all light from the room.  
  
"I trust everything is going well Emperor Belron?" said Keel  
  
"You would be correct Mr. Lorenz…if I had what you promised."  
  
"I don't understand sir."  
  
"Hazuko did his part of the deal, he went and apprehended the EVA's along with Ikari. HOWEVER when he went to the holding bay he found nothing so therefore I am without EVA, Ikari or even a pilot. This is most distressing Mr. Lorenz."  
  
"Leave everything to me. Based on what I saw that EVA do a few minutes ago…I have a good Idea where it has gone off too."  
  
"I hope, for your sake, you are able to retrieve it for my cause."  
  
"Well…that's another matter. You see, to deal with an EVA, a great amount of technology will be needed…powerful technology, say, the kind used to create your starships."  
  
"I understand. You will get what you desire and If all goes well, even more. But be warned. I will not accept failure three times…your free stroke was just filled up."  
  
  
  
  
  
Shinji's eyes dazed in and out of reality as the feeling of his stomach in a bullet train faded. When he finally saw where he was he noticed he was surrounded by seven women, all of them focused on him.  
  
"Ahhh!" shouted Shinji as he backed up about a million feet from the collection of faces.  
  
"Oh grow up loser!" said Asuka  
  
"Jumpy aren't we" said Aeka  
  
"Hungry?" asked Sasami  
  
"Nice to see your up" said Rei  
  
"He's looks funny" said Mihoshi  
  
"OH SHUT UP MIHOSHI!" said Kiyone  
  
"I hope the acceleration didn't kill any brain cells." said Washu  
  
"Meoooow" said Ryoohki  
  
"Welcome to our home stranger" said a tall elderly man in the corner. "I don't know who you are now but in time I hope you will come to accept our hospitality and use this house as your own."  
  
  
  
Suddenly, from across the hall, Gendo entered the hallway, his body blocking the door, a look of seething anger on his confused face.  
  
"Where the HELL am I?" he said 


	2. Chapter 2: Recovery

CHAPTER 2: The Recovery  
  
Fire raged everywhere as the sounds of incoming fire intensified from above. Our planet Skythos, once a peaceful world in the heart of Jurai Royal Space, is now a smoldering lair of decaying and dead. Nobody knew where the massive warships came from, but when they did, they seemed to being the bowls and trumpets of the angels with them. Even as the small military assembled to fight off the invaders many already knew what the final outcome would be…or at least, we thought we did. As we moved in, a call was sent to Jurai for re-enforcements, the re-enforcements that would prove key in victory….the re-enforcements that never came. Then, as the great ships blazed the capital to the ground, the citizens realized what had happened: it wasn't invaders from another planet wanting Jurai space….it was Jurai itself, the very race that swore to protect there people from harm. What ever we had done to deserve this fate, forgive us….but above all, let the universe know Jurai has turned on its own people!  
  
Holo-News Transmission of Planet SKATHOS, Jurai Protectorate # 23432  
  
  
  
General Kathass looked over the small red and black world from his view port, pleased at how easily the new A-2 Class Battle Cruiser preformed on its first trial run. The process of war, however despicable, was nonetheless unavoidable, especially for the "lesser" world like Skythos. What was once a small little dot in the universe would soon be terra-formed and colonized into a massive production world for new weapons and technologies, all for the Emperors will. It had been almost a month since Belron, formerly the mighty war hero of many battles, claimed the throne with unanimous support form the High Council. With the former 'King" away on a visit to distant relatives, Jurai would re-form itself into dominant universal power that would sweep lesser planets, like Skythos, aside in a tidal wave of flames. Kathass finished his silent repose and arose from his chair. If it not for the brilliant slicers and hackers aboard his ship, The Silver Fury, that message might have reached countless….now it only reached one. Kathass walked slowly over to his comm. receiver and stood within the designated platform to send a fully holographic image. As the yellow streams of power illuminated the form of his body he could see, faintly, his receiver…the Emperor Belron himself.  
  
"I trust you have good news for me?" asked Belron, his body sitting in a position of both meditation and physical release. As Belron looked up Kathass could clearly see the empty hollows for eyes that came with channeling the Dark Fallon through ones body.  
  
"We have cleared the world of Skythos my lord and are proceeding onward to Halan."  
  
"Delay that."  
  
"Sir?" asked Kathass, his face puzzled slightly  
  
"Although my power here on Jurai is secured, there are still the princesses and the prince to worry about, not to mention the king and his wives."  
  
"You speak of the Juraian Crown family?"  
  
"Indeed. I want you to go to there vacationing location, a neutral planet called Earth, and pick them all up, then bring them here to Jurai."  
  
"My lord? Why would we bring your biggest denouncers to Jurai? Would there arguments not dissuade the high Council?"  
  
"They will not be brought here for senate or council parlay…they will be destroyed in public on charges of high treason."  
  
"What could we possibly tell the citizens of the Empire that they would believe?"  
  
'Is it not earth that has begun developing massive organically powered weapons? Weapons so strong they can actually channel the Royal Power? Earth is developing doomsday weapons with the Crown Families help. That is your story….now carry out my orders and do not dare return if you fail."  
  
"What of SEELE and the A-Class technologies?"  
  
"Give then their precious information along with all the ancient records of the Jurai libraries. SEELE is seeming more interested in our history than our future…a wise course of action on there part considering what they are giving us in return"  
  
"My lord, I leave for Earth at once. But what of Hazuko and the NIGHTMAIN?"  
  
"It has another mission ahead of it on EEarth, one that will not interrupt yours." With a flicker and a whirl the holographic link cut off from inside the Jurai Throne Palace, the newest of many super-fortresses that had been built across Jurai. As Belron meditated a figure entered his court, her figure casting a long shadow in the light from outside the throne room doors. Belron looked up to see a beautiful woman, in her thirties by looks, standing with a long and dangerous model energy saber.  
  
"You must be Emperor Belron." The woman said. Belron smiled beneath his silver mask as he arose, showing off his impressive size and almost albino white skin beneath his rows of body armor and capes.  
  
"…and you must be Nagi" Belron whispers, his aura suddenly absorbing all the light in the room to his shadowlike maw of a Ki field that encircled his body.  
  
  
  
  
  
Shinji sipped on his hot tea while Gendo continued pace around the living room of the Masaki house, his face redden with frustration as the youngest of his caretakers, Sasami approached him with a cup of tea for him as well.  
  
"Would you like some? Its good, I promise!" said Sasami. Gendo shot her a look that could puncture stone as he stopped pacing, eyeing the little Juraian girl as well as the offer of something to drink, not a stiff drink as he had hoped for, but a drink none the less. With a small smile Gendo took the drink, looked it over and with one smooth motion, poured the drink on the floor as he placed the cup upside-down on the tray from where it was served..  
  
"I do not need anything from you…Juraian."  
  
Sasami was angered to the point where she wanted to throw the cup at Gendo's head and would have done so if not for Yosho and Azusha's entrance from there conference in another room.  
  
"If you are to stay here Mr. Ikari, you had best make friends with Sasami here as she will be cooking your meals…and food poisoning isn't a good thing to experience." Said Ayeka from the kitchen, her eyes averted to reading the newest of her romance manga books.  
  
"Ayeka is correct. You must show some respect to the kindness of my daughter for offering you something to drink at all" said Azusha. This of course, caused Gendo no end of a headache  
  
"Listen to me, all of you. I am not here by choice and would rather, no, DO, have better things to be doing back in Tokyo 3. Now, if this little show of alien hospitality is over with I would like to know where my Evangelions are…now." Said Gendo, his tone slow and mellow."  
  
Shinji looked on at the conversation, amazed at how ruthless his father could be even to total strangers, especially ones who had saved his life and even nursed his back to heath. "Father I th-"  
  
"SHINJI BE QUIET!" shouted Gendo, his eyes widening as his voice slammed into Shinji like a train.  
  
"…I…I was just going to say that Washu is holding the Eva's in a safe place for us." As Shinji finished the sentence he suddenly felt his stomach acid boil up and try to escape through his throat. He wouldn't even let him talk. Shinji sat back down in his chair as Ayeka and Sasami watched him, bewildered at how…easily…he took it, like he was a beat dog.  
  
"Whoever this…Washu is, I want to see the Evangelions" Everyone remained silent as Gedno walked up to Yosho, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses which he pushed up onto the bridge of his nose, all the while never looking down. "I said…now."  
  
"You may go and see how Washu is doing after dinner tonight Mr. Ikari. That is not a request, but rather, a way to repay Sasami. You will graciously eat her food with all of us….and you will apologize to the 'Juraian girl" NOW!" As Yosho finished Gendo looked over at Sasami who saw obviously holding back her temper. Gendo smiled sarcastically as he turned and walked to the little girl. Gendo looked Sasami over, chuckled a bit and turned to Shinji, still sipping his drink.  
  
"Is it any good?" asked Gendo. Shinji nodded  
  
"Yeah. It is."  
  
Gendo smiled again, this time genuinely as he turned Sasami, bowing slightly. "I am sorry for my behavior. You must understand my…position, in all this." Sasami huffed a bit and then walked into the kitchen, reeyohki following behind her, mimicking her mistresses actions in a small "mewoff" noise. Yosho nodded in conclusion as he and Azusha went to see about his wives condition. Or to be more specific, if they were awake yet seeing as how it was late morning. As he went to the door of Misaki's room it suddenly slammed open, hitting him squarely in the face.  
  
"GOOD MORNING!" came a loud cheerful voice in the form of Misaki, the second wife to king Azusa and the mother of Sasami and Ayeka. The tall blue haired woman looked down to see her flattend0faced husband stagger up, his mind in a daze, his face redden and his eyes watering.. "Well my honey I didn't know you were going to drink the whole case of Juraian Wine without me! HONESTLY! My mother bought us that wine on our wedding day and you promised to save it for something special, like what we had planned for the toast tonight!"  
  
"Mi..sak..i! You slam.." staggered Azusa as, with an angered huff, Misaki slammed the door onto his face again. Suddenly, from behind a wall, came Ryouko, and in her arms, was a cradled silver flask, its word in juraian.  
  
"Hey guys, I found this really vintage bottle of wine! I-" Ryouko suddenly found her throat in a grip like a vice, the vengeful eyes of Misaki ,a set of blazing suns.  
  
"YOU!" Misaki shouted. Ryouko looked over to Sasami who was bust writing on a piece of paper. Sasami held up the makeshift 'response" as Ryouko struggled to breathe.  
  
"I AM SO SORRY PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN! I DID NOT KNOW THIS EXOTIC AND EXPENSIVE WINE WAS YOURS! ALLWO ME TO APOLOGIZE AND SAY "HAVE YOU LOSTW EIGHT?" As Ryouko finished Misaki released her death grip, her eys as big as saucers  
  
"Do you mean it, do you really think I've lost weight?" Misaki squealed, her tone off in the atmosphere of high notes. Ryouko coughed and stammered on the floor next to Azusa while Sasami went to fetch ice. Gendo looked on and sighed exasperated, sitting down to investigate the morning paper…or at least he would have if a small brown creature had not leapt on it first, its little fangs bared in anger at Gendo's hand  
  
"You'll have to forgive little reeyohki. Shee hasn't read the funnies yet!" came a chipper voice from behind Gedno that sent his senses up a wall almost like a million nails across a million chalkboards. Gendo turned his head to see the purple haired Ayeka standing over him. Gendo frowned as he pulled his hand back, eyeing the small brown "creature: in front oh him, its eyes shifting back and forth.  
  
  
  
  
  
Rei was in the garden, eyeing the are with which Keyonay was picking various vegetables and placing them into a small wicker basket. Rei stooped down onto her knees, so as to get a better look at the beautiful aqua haired woman. Keyonay sensed Rei's staring and couldn't help but blush a bit in frustration.  
  
"Can I help you Rei?" asked Keyonay in a tone that suggested agitation. Rei did not pick up on this as most would, so she answered.  
  
"I was wondering…why do you stay here, with your partner I mean. You two do not seem to be bound here in the way Ryouko or Ayeka are."  
  
"Hah. I guess I never really thought about it like that. Well, since I am stationed here in this quadrant, no thanks to my bumbling-blockheaded-do- nothing partner, this place is like home. If you don't mind my asking YOU something now, where exactly did you live in Tokyo 3. I never get the chance to visit an all…"  
  
Rei stood very still for a while, her eyes drifting to look at the blackness of the soil beneath her knees. Keyonay got a puzzled look and leaned in closer to see if her temporary house guest had fallen asleep on her feet….not unlike another certain blonde-haired partner she knew. As Rei looked up Keyonay became quite startled and fell backward a few inches. "I lived alone, near the NERV complex….that is all I did. Live."  
  
"Well, I guess that's all anybody REALLY dose when ya think about it." Replied Keyonay as she went back to tending the vegetables so the could be ready in time for dinner.  
  
  
  
Asuka, Toji, Azaka, Kamadake and Tenchi sat on a set of "inflatable" chairs as they watched Washo overlook the massive Evangelions in her makeshift hover-lift, her eye adorned withan oversized magnifying lense complete with a X-Ray feature. The 4 massive machines were in a large holding bay on one of Washu's lab-worlds, a place that, in a way, seemed to resemble NERV's launch bay. Washu was very engaged in looking over unit two when there came a loud buzz on a computer terminal at ground level. Asuka's attention switched from seeing how many breaths Toji took in a minute to watching Washu as she clicked the terminal on. In a bright burst of light a large 3D representation of the solar system arose, a linking red dot between Mars and the earth…and moving closer.  
  
"Hey Little Washu ( Oh how Asuka HATED saying that!) what's with the blinking light?"  
  
"Well grasshopper it means that a Juraian warship is headed to this planet! Sound like fun?"  
  
"What up with these Juraians and our planet. Didn't Mrs. Ayeka say something about this being a neutral zone er something like that.." said Toji, his eyes shut and head lowered in a resting position.  
  
"Very astute Mr. Suzuhaa. It would seem that as the agreement with the OLD Juraian government but the new one is a little more hard-nosed on the issue of "Poloitical DO's and DON'T's"."  
  
"You saying Jurai switched its position and now wants to mess up MY planet?!" said Asuka, her fists clenched in tight little balls  
  
"Washu come on now. You don't seriously think there's been ANOTHER revolution on Jurai do you? Kagato is dead, his followers are arrested and besides: Who would possibly be elected to rule?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"To answer that question I'd have to go to Jurai but under the circumstances I wont be doing THAT just yet. Besides, maybe this mystery leader isn't elected. He could be operating with a rouge faction of Jurai's military and hasn't gained power yet."  
  
  
  
  
  
Hazuko sat on his silver throne, his yellow eyes shifting and darting over the various technical read outs from his "battle" with the evangelions. The one machine, the thing called unit one, seemed to surely be channeling Juraian Royal Power through its body, Hazuko was positive of what he saw…but it was impossible. No earthan machine or man could possibly channel such power and live to breathe again. Hazuko pondered the question more as a holographic image of the Emperor appeared in his chambers.  
  
"My lord!" said Hazuko proudly, shutting off his various monitors.  
  
"Hazuko, I have a new mission for you, one that will allow me to forgive your failure with much more ease. You are to report with a ship that is approaching you and when it arrives, you will escort the pilot to Earth and bring her to the following coordinates. Do you understand this order?"  
  
"My master…I was under the impression that NIGHTMAIN would return to Jurai and aide in the subjugation of Gallon."  
  
"You were mistaken." Said Belron as the transmission cut off, leaving Hazuko with his orders and the alert on his monitor that there was a ship, the kenooki, approaching him at high speeds. Hazuko respected his emperor, both for the fact he was a powerful swordsman, and for the ability he had to channel the mirror-power of Jurai's family, the Dark Fallon, but he thought the man an occasional fool! Hazuko swallowed his pride as he began to deviate NIGHTMAINS course back to Earth…  
  
  
  
  
  
The Masaki house was quite that afternoon as everybody was trying to avoid everybody else…until dinner anyway. As Tenchi tried to sneak round Ayeka and Ryoko, Keyonay and Rei were avoiding Mihoshi who didn't want to have to see Gendo, who didn't want to see anything but his evangelions. Meanwhile Ryouko was slinked by Misami while Funaho and Asuzha meditated over tea made by Sasami who was wondering why the hell everyone was avoiding one another!!!!  
  
Tenchi walked into his room, the one last free place in his once "empty" house, sitting down to enjoy his weekend…until however a certain redhead burst through his bathroom door, as clothed a the day she was born.  
  
"AGHHHHHHHHHHH" shouted Asuka  
  
"AGHHHHHHHHHHH" shouted Tenchi is response. With one swift punch Tenchi was on the floor cold and Asuka swept a towel over her body as quickly as possible.  
  
"IDIOT! What re you doing in my room!" said Asuka angrily.  
  
"YOUR room? I am the one who has slept here for almost 15 years!"  
  
"Ms. Ryouko said I was to sleep in here and you were to sleep in the second room on the lower floor"  
  
"But that would be ( It then hit him)…her room. RYOUKO!!" As if on command the voluptuous silver haired woman slithered up from the floor, her body clad in an outfit that mad Asuka wondered what the woman did for a night job…sitting street corners? "Ryouko what's going on here!"  
  
"Whatever do you mean dearest Tenchi?"  
  
"OH give it up! Tell ms. Shoyu to get her own room and STOP trying to get me to sleep in your room for crying out-loud!"  
  
"WHY Tenchi whatever do you think I had planned! I was simply being a nice and descent person by allowing Asuka to have your room just as I know YOU would want her to be most comfortable, right? You do want her to be comfortable don't you?"  
  
"Well yes but I-"  
  
"Well that's why you willingly offered her YOUR room, because your such a gracious host aren't you"  
  
"Well, I..um…(DANG IT)…It's okay Asuka. I'll just get my things and go downstairs. (Ryouko's face lit up like a roman candle with glee)…to sleep on the couch! (Ryouko faded quicker than a balloon with a bullet hole)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sasami was busy cutting up a few squids and mixing sauces when Rei and Keyonay entered, both there arms loaded with various vegetables. As the two girls unloaded the mass of veggies on the cutting table they could see Tenchi walking down the stairs, a whinnying Ryouko on his waist.  
  
"Oh come on now Tenchi, I don't bite…hard!"  
  
'CUT it OUT Ryouko! I need to go help Sasami cook dinner!" Ryouko released Tenchi and, with a sinister smile, vanished off to see what the "royal couples" were up to. As Masaki and Funaho were both beginning to smell the scents of dinner king Azusha was sipping some tea, Unfortunately that was the time Ryouko decided to materialize in the room, frightening the Jurian king out of his chair and his tea onto his lap….very HOT tea.  
  
"WHAT…is it Ryouko!" Azusa said, trying to keep his use of expletives down while everyone was in an earshot. Ryouko couldn't help but grin madly.  
  
"Why lord Azusha I just wanted to see how you and the little women were doing ( by now Mazaki has given Ryouko a death stare while Funaho looked on in question). I just wanted you to know that Ayeka wanted Tenchi to sleep in HER room while the Asuka girl takes Tenchi's room. From what I understand it was all HIS idea…" Azsuha, normally a very "stern" person, was now red in the face like a tomatoe on steroids. Unfortunately for Ryouko it wasn't Techi, Asuka or Ayeka he was angered at: IT WAS HER. With one swift movement Azusha grabbed Ryouko by her quite loose flowing shirt and firmly grappled her to the floor.  
  
"Listen, space pirate, I have had a very lousy morning with that Ikari, the fact that Reeyouki STILL hasn't come back with my morning a paper, my tea is now spilled and to make it worse, YOU are trying to set up some scheme to get Tenchi in your room tonight. As of now he is sleeping with ME and YOU are to sleep with Masak and Funaho. ( Ryouko looked over to Masaki who has busy polishing a VERY long katana saber. Masaki looked at Ryouko, her eyes ablaze)"  
  
"NOW now there, your highness. I think I hear Sasami calling me, GOTTA GO!" with a quick wink Ryouko vanished into the air and left a still redden Azusha to go and get himself more tea.  
  
"How that boy lives with all these fools is beyond me!"  
  
"Now my dear, give the boy SOME credit where it is due. He's done a marvelous job at teaching Sasami as well as, how shall I say this, keeping his "urges" in here place." Said Funaho  
  
"Well both those things could be chalked up to Yosho's raising of the boy…by the way, will we still make the announcement at dinner?" Both the wives agreed as Azsusha smiled to himself. "I can't wait to see there faces!"  
  
  
  
It was about seven at night when everyone was finally ready to sit down and eat, having survived there first night together ( although NIGHT was looking likie a big problem o the rise). Gendo sat as far away from Shinji as possible, the royals all sat together while Mishohi and Keyonay sat opposite the pilots, all weary from having finally scrimped up enough clothes to last until they would be able to get back to Tokyo 3 VIA Washu, who still hadn't come out of her lab. As all the gorgeous looking food was brought out before everyone they began to eat, the conversation soon focusing on the one thing nobody really wanted to discuss that morning: Gendo Ikari and the Evangelions  
  
"So tell me Mr. IkarI" began Yosho, " What is it that you do in Tokyo 3. I believe you are the one who operates NERV, am I correct?"  
  
"Indeed I am. My son Shinji, and the other children, are also the pilots of the Evangelions, mans ultimate weapon against the angels…a weapon which would have proven much more useful if our benefactors had not pulled out on us and left us for dead by Jurian weaponry."  
  
"Now I am curious. That ship which took the EVA's, the NIGHTMAIN, why was it the one to lead the attack? Father?" asked Ayeka  
  
"Now my dear, it has come to my attention that you Uncle Hazuko has been the leader of a bizarre Jurian military faction calling themselves The Red Wind. I tried for very long to conceal his identity in that group a secret from you but now it is very obvious: your Uncle has wanted my throne for some time you see."  
  
"But why would he attack Tokyo 3 and take these, evangelion I believe they're called?" asked Sasami  
  
"Easy. The benefactors of NERV have decided to trade the EVA's, mans last hope for salvation, in exchange for ancient Jurain knowledge and technology." Said Gendo, his eyes fixed on Azusha.  
  
"Now see here Mr, Ikari! My kingdom has and will NEVER bargain for or in such things! You must know that the people your benefactors are dealing with are rouge agents of a former Jurian military sect that was exiled a long time ago! They hold no power on Jurai and as long as I am in power, never will!"  
  
"Then why is it THEY had that ship, the second most powerful I believe, and you didn't?"  
  
"THAT is none of your business Ikari. Hazuko and I made an agreement years ago involving that ship and his treaties…apparently he bas broken the treaties in exchange for these EVA"s. I would assume he intends to use them to usurp my authority and take over Jurai."  
  
'If you knew what those machines were capable of you wouldn't just be worried about your planet," said Gendo, a smirk on his face.  
  
"YES, why is that!" a voice said from across the room. Everyone looked over to see Washu in the hallway, a series of printed read outs in her hand.  
  
  
  
Everyone stepped through the artificial back hole and into a huge room not unlike where the evangelions bad been put in storage except this chamber was far more advanced. Gendo looked around, his eyes scanning every inch of the erect EVA's to make sure that in his mind they were fully intact and not…modified by this mad scientist.  
  
"Why are we here?" asked Yosho, his mind more focused on what Washu was REALLY up to in this whole mess. As everyone gazed up at the huge bio- humanoids Washu was adjusting her hover lift until it came to rest in front of Unit Ones chest. Washu the pulled a small device from her pocket and placed it on the purple armored chest, adjusting a few gauges in the process. Suddenly with a bright eruption of light came a holographic projection that took everyone's breath away. There, suspended in a 3D representation of light and beams emitted from a small lens was the form of a woman, her naked form curled upon itself and wrapped by long flowing locks of brown hair, suspended in what seemed to be a transparent liquid mass by the way she "floated'.  
  
"Care to explain Mr. Ikari?" asked Aashu  
  
"Explain WHAT!?" snapped Gendo  
  
"How about why there is the non-ascended soul of a person locked away inside this thing?!"  
  
Shinji looked up at the 3D image, his eyes widened in shock and amazement as he realized he was looking upon the form of his won mother, the very mother taken from him years earlier. It was impossible yet, deep inside, Shinji had known….he had always known. Gendo continued to stare at Washu, her eyes piercing through her physical form, as if trying to injure her soul and her very pride. Washu stared right back as she replied something everyone knew would change the course of ALL there lives: "I am going to pull her out."  
  
'I can not allow you to do that." Said Gendo, his glasses reflecting the rooms light in such a way as to make his eyes appear…something MORE than human.  
  
"WHY NOT!" asked Washu, her face reddening as she lowered the hover lift to Gendo's level  
  
"Because SHE chose to remain in there. We attempted to retrieve her…countless…time and each time she refused the request. That woman in there is Yui, my wife and I knew, just as she did, what sitting in that EVA seat mean for both of us. She has chosen that seat rather than my bed in order to be closer to he whom she loves most….Shinji"  
  
"What?" staggered Shinji, tears welling up in his eyes as he awaited a response.  
  
"Shinji. My son…the result of my love for Yui. How ironic that by showing and expressing my love to her that you would result, the one thing that deprived me of that very love only a few months latter. When you were born, her obsession began. She saw a world rife with disaster, chaos and death…all the things she didn't want for you Shinji. Thus she allowed me to assist her in Project E, a way to spare you and the rest of mankind the horrors of pain…something that I would never forgive her for. The day she sat in that chair, the moment the sync test began, and she knew she was leaving me leaving me behind to aid HER mission, for YOU. I suppose that is why I choose to distance myself from you. But as much as I will never forgive her for her choice it is stilt HER choice and YOU, Mrs. Washu, are not the person to remover her will from the EVA."  
  
"Your insane. Trapping souls in robots to achieve the power of eternal happiness? Who are you to DARE such a thing when you can not even love your own son, the one link between yourself and this Yui woman. You don't deserve such a power."  
  
"I know that…I've always known that. But now is not the time to question what has been done. I will repay you for your hospitality but I must get to Germany and NERV's second branch."  
  
"AND DO WHAT? If that one Juraian ship was able to obliterated the entire facility at Tokyo 3 just think of what reinforced ships will do to Germany!" shouted Asuka  
  
"The city is irrelevant. Yui's mission must be accomplished and I will see her will done…for her sake and my own"  
  
"Your own?" asked Yosho  
  
"If she is pulled from unit one I will see her again, true, but then she will be unable to survive outside of its AT-Fields as she had irrelevantly become one with it and has been so for years. Taking her from the EVA will kill her as she will be drained of her life-fluids and her heart would cease to beat. As much as I long to see her revived…I would not risk her death."  
  
"Are you saying I would have suggested reviving her If I thought she would DIE? Don't be absurd. I, the greatest mind in the universe, am fully aware of this "machines" capabilities and can offer you a foolproof way to revive Yui and, if she would like, return her spiritual form back into the EVA."  
  
Gendo stood silent for what seemed like hours until finally Shinji stepped foreword: "PULL HER OUT!" her shouted.  
  
'SHINJI!" shouted Gendo  
  
'TOO LATE!" snapped Washu as she pressed another button on the lens projecting the image over the crowd. With a concentrated ray of green and white lightning the holographic image pulsed as if the light was trying to corporealize into the 3rd dimension…which it was. Yui's souls soon began to uncurl from its fetal position as she stretched out her arms and legs, soaking in the power of the physical world. In another bust of light Yui's body was surrounded by what looked like an AT-Field  
  
"What is going on!" shouted Gendo  
  
"Easy enough to explain. There will be a 24 hour process as Yui's body re- materialized from the atoms in the air. However in that time were going to have to do something drastic…"  
  
"Which is WHAT!"  
  
"Were going to need blood from all of you."  
  
  
  
The great juraian cruiser NIGHTMAIN pulled out of its long journey, its partner ship, the kenoohki coming to a slow cruise. General Kathass looked upon the little blur marble world of earth an went immediately to work on his mission: deliver the Jurai Crown family to Jurai for execution…or do the deep in combat himself, either way didn't matter to him. Just then, as he was pondering how best to handle the situation, a holographic image of his comrade in arms, general Hazuko arrived and delivered his statement:  
  
"Hail the Emperor of Jurai. Dear Kathass, as you know I am in charge of a set of mission on earth: One to apprehend the EVANGELIONS and the other being to annihilate the NERV branches one by one. I will be on planet if you should need me for assistance. Hazuko OUT."  
  
Kathass hated Hazuko, the arrogant bastard. Kathass would prove his skill in battle by fulfilling ALL of Hazuko's mission alone. The first: Destroy the Jurai Royal family and then, capture the EVANGELIONS….and luckily for him, he happened to have the best bounty hunter in the universe next to his ship who just happened to know where his prizes would be found…in a place called Okaiyama…. 


End file.
